1 Hypochondriac; 1 Vegetarian; and an OCD bub.

I love the colour that children bring to my life. I love how their little personalities blossom and it seems to me that we must have lived before we came to this life. The funniest things happen when you are a SAHM. Things that only you get to discover and watch. No one else will live these moments with my toddlers. And no matter how much I try to blog or tell others about it, these moments will never be described adequately to portray the wonder of my 3 sons. Just as other children bring their own sense of wonder to their own parents.

Of late we have some real characters hanging about in my house. Baby Bunny is a little OCD about being clean. He hates the feeling of dirty hands or especially sandy hands. When he sees someone using the antibacterial wash he calls out for a turn (by rubbing two hands together to signal washing). He often motions with his finger in his teeth and roughly says teef to tell us he wants to brush his teeth again. He loves a bath. And I don't mind any of this at all. In fact OCD is a large exaggeration for a little boy who just wants to grow up as fast as he can.

Bunny's brother Moo Moo is very fast becoming a vegetarian a rather surprising transformation for our little meat and potatoes man. I think he is not enjoying the texture of the meat but I suspect the real reason belongs to his realisation that meat are in fact animals. Someone tell me why we never came up with a culinary alternative name for chicken or fish? After all parents can get away with saying beef or pork or even bacon and ham. Lamb is even dodgy. Why didn't we ever say fowl or fin or something. I am also suspicious that since Grandma got Sophie and Sam, the pet laying hens, Moo Moo is highly suspicious of the origins of his meat. We try to explain that there are pet chickens, laying chickens and eating chickens but this vegetarian is persistent at the moment. And he only just turned 3! So I am figuring this smart cookie will grow out of it.

Monkey is quite the hypochondriac. If something is a little too overwhelming and he prefers not to try anymore, Monkey will mention a random ailment that is the REAL reason why he can't proceed. A situation might play out like this -
Mama - 'Monkey would you like to say the prayer?'
Monkey - 'I'm not feeling well, I have a sore leg'.
Or Mama - 'Monkey please walk on your own'.
Monkey - 'My legs are bandy'.

Its humorous to watch, but a little lie on his bed is all it takes to cure his sicknesses. If we made all the trips to the hospital as requested they'd think he'd suffer from neglect.

Mothers Love - a beautiful poem

Mother's Love

Her love is like an island
In life's ocean, vast and wide
A peaceful, quiet shelter
From the wind, the rain, the tide.
'Tis bound on the North by Hope,
By Patience on the West,
By tender Counsel on the South
And on the East by Rest.
Above it like a beacon light
Shine Faith, and Truth, and Prayer;
And thro' the changing scenes of life
I find a haven there.
-Author Unknown

I used this poem for part of a photo book I made of my mother. When I read it I feel grateful for a wonderful Mother and I feel great sense of purpose as a mother to my own children.

The boys must separate.

I once said in a talk- "I have good children but they are really active boys and egg each other on like you wouldn’t believe. It’s like everyday is a sleepover party with their best friends." Well things have not changed, in fact they have escalated. Literally while I type I can hear my oldest boys, who are meant to be asleep, chatting away in their room, rather excitedly. I've already been in there to tell them to go to sleep. Moo Moo responds 'but Mum we want to talk'. I softened and said 'ok ten more minutes' because its so adorable to see them enjoy eachother's company.

But back to the point I was wanting to make - it's time to separate Monkey and Moo. These bestie brothers can only remember life with each other, they are so close in age (14 months apart). From early on in Moo Moo's life we moved Monkey out of his cot into a toddler bed and put the boys in the same room. So as you can imagine they are pretty tight. Too tight for my liking lately. I find myself wishing I could say- you go to your room and you go to your room. At bath time they hype eachother up so much that after they make it impossible to get their clothes on. So we now put Bunny in his gated room, Hubby takes Moo Moo to our room and I take Monkey to his room. What's interesting is Monkey will actually put on his own clothes if his brother isn't there to distract him.

They can be found pulling all their bedding off their beds and having what they call a "Wiggly Party" amongst the mess. Thanks Wiggles for somehow inspiring this very different past time.

Side story - Henry the Octopus came and visited my house the other day. And I had to feed and care for him. Yes he was Moo Moo's imaginary friend.

Well back to the point - we are soon moving to a house with an extra bedroom and for a while all the boys will have their own room. This goes against my natural grain where I feel like I should somehow live more like a humble pioneer. You know like they didn't even have separate beds in the old days. I know I have weird issues with progression. Maybe I will elaborate on that one day.

Will I ever get to my point... I cannot wait to have separate spaces for my little bestie brothers for a little peace every now and then. Fingers crossed it helps.

Flying with One Wing Clipped

"God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage: if he brings you to it, He will bring you through it." - Helen Traves Smith (Mater's 100 Stories page 52.)

Helen shares her experiences with the Mater Hospital whilst battling breast cancer. At the close of her experience she relates the above expression. I thought it was a wonderful saying and wanted to share it too.